Michelle Arslan
April 8, 2017
NUR 4242
Introduction:
At Mary Immaculate Hospital within
the Birthing Center parents and their
infants are discharged daily. The
question was raised why does it take
so long, and will the patients retain
the patient education that they are
receiving? So I set out with my nurse
mentor which is the Nurse Manager
of both Mother Baby and NICU to
make a change in the discharge
process to condense the amount of
paperwork given to parents; our goal
was to worry about quality not
quantity. In addition our goal was to
provide clear-cut patient education
and not to down parents with
frivolous information.
Decrease discharge handouts, increase patient
education
April 8, 2017
PROJECT GOALS
Our goal was to shorten discharge
sessions to thirty minutes and allow
the last thirty minutes for any
questions that parents may have
within the Birth Place. In addition to
discharge teaching that was
shortened we also gave only a limited
amount of paper work to the
patients, and only the essential
documents were given to include
delivery summary, newborn medical
record, immunization records, and a
list of important helpful contact
numbers. This new concept cut time
and paperwork by 56% thus saving
unit funds.
We made a change in the discharge
process to condense the amount of
paperwork given to parents; our goal
that was carried out was to worry
about quality not quantity.
PROJECT DESIGN
A patient survey of 150 parents was
collected as well as a staff survey to
ensure the quality of the change and
to ensure that the change is beneficial
to the patients as well as the staff. In
addition the staffs input is essential so
that we may know if we need to make
any additional changes.
Michelle Arslan
April 8, 2017
NUR 4242

EVALUATION STRATEGY
*2 PDSA cycles needed to be conducted.
Changes needed to be made to the original
process; the originally the process was to
conduct all discharge teaching in the morning.
However, morning assessments and physicians
needed to conduct their morning rounds so
discharge teaching was changed to when lunch
trays would be passed out. The thought behind
this concept was the patients will be receptive
while receiving their meal tray in addition the
nursing staff can chat with patients and their
families about all discharge instructions and
any concerns they may be having prior to
leaving the hospital. With the new changes
patients as well as nurse satisfaction survey
increased, allowing us to know are process was Conclusion:
successful change. The patients that were discharged during this time
frame appeared to have a great experience with the
FINDINGS changes made at the birthing center; most reported
that they had and excellent or good experience.
This allowed me to conclude that my changes are a
success and that the we as a unit need to ACT upon
the plan and keep the new discharge procedure
70 based on positive productive results, but also take
Patient Satisfaction

60 into consideration the staffs input. Based on the

50 findings within this study the staff appeared to be
percentage

satisfied with the new changes. I was able to create a

40 Excellent positive lasting change on my unit that will save time
30 and unit funds; additionally parents that receive less
20 Good stress and more essential information and
documentation will thrive in the community. With the
10 Fair change that we have made in our plans new families
0 will also be able to have a contact number for the
Poor triage nurse within the Birthing Center should any
March March March
concerning questions arise, thus improving the
1-7 8-14 15-22 discharge process allowing the unit to be more
Response from 50 discharged Parents productive with its resources.

References:
Institute for Healthcare Improvement (2016). QI
102: How to Improve with the Model for
Improvement. Retrieved from
http://app.ihi.org/lms/coursedetailview.aspx?Co
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ac29c9565ff1&CatalogGUID=6cb1c614-884b-
43ef-9abd-
d90849f183d4&LessonGUID=00000000-0000-
0000-0000-000000000000